GOAL Practice Policies

Weather cancelations

For inclement weather, GOAL will follow along with the Omaha Public Schools weather cancelations.  If OPS cancels school for the day, or cancels after-school school activities due to the weather, GOAL practices will also be canceled.    A news item will be posted on the website when practice is canceled.

Attendance

Make-ups

There are no makeup practices allowed, unless specified by the head coach.  Practice groups are usually at capacity, with the practice group size designed to not exceed a certain coach:swimmer ratio and a max. # of swimmers per lane. 

Arrival / pick-up times

Swimmers should arrive 10-15 min. before the scheduled start of practice.  Ten minutes is a good rule of thumb.  At certain pools, if it is the first practice of the day we will need to set up the pool for practice, and we may ask the kids to help out with this.  Also, they will need time to fill water bottles, adjust their caps and/or goggles, and receive coaching instructions prior to starting practice on time.   Arriving more than 15 minutes early may result in the coach not being there yet, or coaches will be in the middle of an earlier practice and will not be free to supervise the kids on deck.  The swimmers should await their practices on deck within view of the coaches.  We are NOT allowed to run loose in the facilities.

If you need to arrive late for practice due to school dismissal time or other reason, please report to your coach ready to swim as quickly as possible upon arriving to pool.  Please let the coach know if you’ll be arriving late on a regular basis.

Please pick up your swimmer as soon after practice as possible.  The coaches do want to get home at a reasonable hour after practice, so plan on being out of the facility within 15 minutes of the end of practice.

Spectator seating

All parents/spectators are required to sit in the designated spectator viewing area.  At Montclair, this is upstairs on the benches overlooking the pool.  At Brownell-Talbot, this is in the upper bleachers overlooking the pool.  At Mockingbird, this is out in the lobby.   Only USA Swimming registered coaches and swimmers are allowed on deck, but parents may come down to briefly drop off/pick up swimmers.

Talking to the coaches during practice

During the scheduled practice times, the GOAL coaches will be actively working with the swimmers on the deck or in the pool.  Please do not try to talk to the coaches during practice time, because they are very busy working with the kids.  You can talk to them right after practice, or contact them to set up a time to talk.  Coaches e-mails are on the GOAL website (click on the coach link).